Bhopal man arrested under MP's new anti-conversion law


PTI | Bhopal | Updated: 21-01-2021 19:46 IST | Created: 21-01-2021 19:46 IST
Bhopal man arrested under MP's new anti-conversion law
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Madhya Pradesh police havearrested a 25-year-old mechanic in Bhopal under a new law inthe state that penalises religious conversions throughfraudulent means, after a woman lodged a complaint againsthim, officials said on Thursday.

In her complaint, the victim, a 23-year-oldengineering student, accused the man of repeatedly raping herand bullying her besides threatening her to change her faithto marry him, they said.

This is the second case registered in the state underthe new law.

Earlier this month, the state government promulgatedthe Freedom of Religion-2020 ordinance, which provides for 10years in jail in some cases.

''The accused, Asad Khan, was on Wednesday arrested andcharged under seven IPC sections, including 376 (2) (n)(repeated rape), 354 (stalking), 294 (obscene act) and 506(criminal intimidation) and attempts to change religion byallurement and threat under the MP Religious Freedom Ordinance2020,'' Ashoka Garden police station inspector Alok Shrivastavasaid.

Police said that the woman hailed from MP's Balaghatdistrict and befriended the accused in 2019 while using apublic transport system. He told her that he was a mechanicalengineer.

The accused told the woman that his name was Ashu andhe was a Hindu, Shrivastava said.

In December 2019, he took the woman to his place inBhopal's Ashoka Garden area and raped her there, he added.

''On March 19, 2020, he took her to adjoining Raisendistrict on his birthday. He ventured out of the hotel, wherethey were staying, saying that he will return in five minutesafter meeting a friend,'' Additional Superintendent of Police(ASP) Rajesh Bhadoria said.

The woman, meanwhile, stepped out for a morning walkand found him coming out of a nearby mosque wearing a skullcap. On finding him there, she accused him of cheating, hesaid.

Shrivastava said that after the incident, the womanparted ways with him and returned home in Balaghat during thecoronavirus-induced lockdown.

In October, the accused started stalking her and whenshe objected, he thrashed her, he said.

On January 11, he followed the woman and asked her tochange her faith in order to marry him. Khan also threatenedto kill her if she did not marry him, Shrivastava added.

On Tuesday, the accused posted his picture with thewoman on social media. The next day, the victim, along withher two acquaintances, came to the police station to lodge acomplaint, he said.

Meanwhile, BJP district working committee memberSanjay Mishra claimed that he went to the police station toget the FIR registered in this case.

''The other party could not mount pressure on thepolice as we were there,'' he said.

Shrivastava, however, said, ''No Sanjay Mishra came tothe police station. The victim came there along with her womanfriend and the friend's brother.'' On January 17, the first case under the new anticonversion law was registered in Barwani district on thecomplaint of a 22-year-old woman. The accused in that case wasa married man who already has a child.

The MP Dharma Swatantrya Adhyadesh (Religious FreedomOrdinance) 2020 came into force on January 9. It provides fora punishment of one to ten years in cases of conversionthrough forced or fraudulent marriage by hiding one's originalreligious identity.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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